JAIL TO THE CHIEF!

December 10, 2008

JAIL TO THE CHIEF!
Source: www.lesliebocobo.blogspot.com

Our Constitution was not written on sand only to be washed away by a roguery of self-serving politicians allied with President Gloria Arroyo, blown in by the political wind, otherwise known as the Arroyo regime's corrupt, polluted air.

On that note, before GMA and her storm-troopers have it their way changing our Constitution, perhaps it would be a good reminder for all to see what kind of legacy they really will be leaving behind.

The following best describes it all:

1. $500 million IMPSA/Napocor/Argentine deal c/o Sec. Nani Perez
2. NAIA-3 project/Germany's Fraport AG
3. Overpriced P1.2 billion PEA-Diosdado Macapagal Highway
4. PCSO ads and the multi-million peso funds mis-use
5. SBMA smuggling operations
6. BCDA - loss of AFP modernization funds
7. Camp John Hay Baguio rentals
8. Poro Point revenues
9. PhilHealth cards
10. Joc-Joc Bolante's P728 million fertilizer scam
11. OWWA fund diversion
12. PAGCOR secret deals with the clergy, media and government officials
13. DPWH contracts including the Road-Users' Tax
14. $329 million overpriced ZTE-NBN mess c/o Chairman Ben Abalos and Sec. Romy Neri
15. North Rail's 'railroaded' project
16. South Rail's 'railroaded' project
17. DoTC contracts including RORO ports and local airports mis-use of funds
18. Anomalous TRANSCO bidding
19. NFA rice mess up
20. Anomalous DSWD cards
21. Spratlys sell-out to China
22. "Hello Garci" scandal, Lintang Bedol's magic and GMA's 'manufactured mandate'
23. P1.3 billion missing irrigation funds
24. Anomalous Venable contract c/o Sec. Bert Gonzales
25. P5 billion swine scam c/o 'pigs' in government
26. Jose Pidal kickback accounts
27. P2 billion National Food fund loss in 2005
28. Grossly overpriced lamp posts (from P16,000 to P300,000 each) in Gloria's Cebu c/o DPWH
29. $1.3 billion crooked Comelec computerization deal
30. $147 million DA/Agriculture and Fisheries modernization act (authored by Sen. Ed Angara)
The Department of Agriculture has mis-used the funds.

And several others.

So, shall we simply give them our Constitution on a silver platter for them to amend, and pave the way for GMA's perpetuation to power? Let us now examine their credibility and legacy, and then, let the sovereign Filipino nation decide.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FILIPINO

By Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV

It was still early in the morning when Mang Nestor got up from bed. He is now quietly sipping a cup of salabat inside his kubo as he prepares to walk to the town. Mang Nestor is a rice farmer in a strife-torn town in Central Mindanao. Today, however, he will not farm. He had been told the day before that the area where the rice fields are, had been declared “No Man’s Land” by the AFP as part of the on-going military operations against the MILF. Taking advantage of the break, Mang Nestor decided to spend the day to look for a doctor. He had long wanted something to relieve himself of the sharp pain in his abdomen. He believes it is some sort of liver ailment as told by the albularyo he consulted with.

At the health center, Mang Nestor dutifully waited for his turn. After patiently waiting for a few hours, he was finally called but only to be dismissed quickly by the attending health worker since the doctor was not around. Besides, he was also informed that there was no medicine available. Eventually, he was told to come back the following week as the doctor should arrive by then. Realizing that he had no more business in the town, Mang Nestor then headed slowly back for home. As he strode by the dirt road, he began to shake his head in regret when he figured that his habitual drinking could likely be the cause of his predicament. He smirks as he recollected about those whole-day drinking sprees he and his friends did back then to provide some form of cheap entertainment as well as to drown his hunger and miseries away.

His reflections were abruptly disrupted by a convoy of streaking vans escorted by several police and military vehicles that blew past him causing a cloud of dust and dirt. As he squinted his eyes, he managed to get a glimpse of the black van at the center of the convoy. He nodded as though it was very familiar to him. A few years back, Mang Nestor recalled that it was the same black van that brought the town mayor to the plaza to deliver a campaign speech. A bus had brought him there, along with other people, to be part of the hakot crowd in exchange for a fifty-peso fee. The mayor then was running for re-election and was sincerely promising the townsfolk that, if re-elected, he will install deep-well pumps for potable water in their barangays as well as multi-purpose pavements to dry their palay. During the elections, he voted for the mayor not because he was moved by the promises made but because he had sold his vote to the tune of five hundred pesos. His neighbors said they received more but then again, he thought, five hundred pesos is still five hundred pesos. The elections are near again yet the promises remained unfulfilled but the prospects of making a little money amused him. This time around he will sell his vote to the highest bidder. He is convinced they are all the same anyway.

Halfway to his home, Mang Nestor decided to take a break from walking under the scorching heat of the sun. He found a big tree and gently sat underneath its shade. He appreciated the scenic view of the rolling mountains as he blew out a sigh of exhaustion. Near the base of the nearby mountain, however, there seemed to be clouds of smoke. Then he heard distant rumbling of what sounded like continuous cannon shelling. It is the war, he thought. How long would it take this time, he asked himself. It was a good thing he still had a half-sack of rice stored in his house. He had already conceded the possibility that his harvest would be completely destroyed. Besides, he had already loaned out almost all of it to the rice cartel operator in the area in exchange for the money he used during pre-production.

He now wondered how his life would have turned out had he joined the NPAs who were recruiting him decades ago? Would he be living a better life now? Most probably not, he thought. For he vividly remembered an incident a few years back when a band of NPA guerillas stormed their barrio and killed a man suspected of being an AFP informant. He could not understand why these people who fashioned themselves as the saviors of the masses would kill the very same people they claimed to be fighting for? Then again, he still would not have joined them because no one would take care of his family.

Mang Nestor’s wife, like him, is illiterate and could not be employed. Actually, only one of his six daughters had gone past grade six. Aside from the fact that he could not afford their education, he remembered what was taught to him by his own parents: “Knowing how to read and write your name; and how to count money are the only things you need to know to survive”. What frustrated him though, was the fact that he had no sons to help him in the farmlands. His two elder daughters had gone to Manila to work as housemaids. The next two are still at home helping their mother. The fifth daughter left for Davao to look for work a year ago but he had not heard from her since. His neighbors heard this vicious rumor that she had ended up working as a prostitute. While the youngest child, the brightest and the one who had the most promising future, had eloped at a tender age of fourteen. In deep thought, he had not noticed the tears that rolled over his cheeks. He asked himself, “What have I done to deserve this?” “Maybe I was not praying enough”, he answered himself back. But his family rarely missed going to mass. Nonetheless, he pledged to himself that this Sunday he would pray more fervently than the previous weeks.

In his reflections, Mang Nestor had lost track of time. He looked up and estimated the time to be way past noon, which was why he had grown hungry. He contemplated on resuming his long walk home but then he realized there was nothing to eat there except the boiled malunggay leaves his family had been eating for the past several days. So instead, he decided to lie down on his back and sleep.

The plight of Mang Nestor is but one of the more than forty million Filipinos or more than half of our population living way below the poverty line. Each one goes through a similar ordeal every single day since the day they were born. Their lives are the representations of the true state of the nation with all the societal problems, government shortcomings and the damaged culture that had made them poor, weak, and helpless.

Last November 29, 2007, I made a stand for Mang Nestor. I failed then but I will still stand up for him someday…

Consuelo’s Stimulus

By Antonio C. Abaya
Written on Dec. 10, 2008

As mentioned in a previous column, the Arroyo administration is correct in proposing a P100 billion stimulus package as a counter-measure against the negative effects of the global financial meltdown on the Philippine economy.

Yesterday, the Cabinet approved the borrowing of $500 million from various financial sources for food security and judicial reforms (I do not understand why this was included in this package) and a P100 billion package for infrastructure projects.

Other governments – including the US, China, Japan, the European Union – have already taken this tack in response to massive job losses. In the US, 533,000 workers and employees lost their jobs in November alone, following 400,000+ in October and 300,000+ in September. An estimated two million Americans will have lost their jobs by year’s end.

Which prompted Robert Reich, one of the 17 members of the economic advisory team of President-elect Barack Obama, to ask if it is time to admit that the US economy is not just in recession, but is actually in a depression.

Obama himself has warned that the US economy will get worse before it gets better. For one thing, four million Americans are expected to lose their homes in the next two years, in addition to the almost two million who already have, because they can no longer afford to pay their monthly amortizations.

The Philippines is luckier. While most of the developed economies, starting with the US, are expected to shrink below zero in 2009, the Philippines’ GDP is still expected to grow but at an estimated rate that is continually shrinking, now estimated at three percent. .It will probably shrink even lower as more Filipino workers abroad are laid off and forced to return home, and orders for our electronic products – which make up 65 percent of our exports – dry up because of much reduced demand worldwide.

Our luck is due to our failure to develop our export industries and our tourism sector to the same extent as our more successful neighbors. Sometimes in an earthquake, skyscrapers topple while modest two-storey walk-ups often remain standing. That is our consuelo de bobo.

The P100 billion stimulus package is a correct response to an emergency situation. But we have to watch out that it does not become the consuelo de ladrones garapales y sin verguenza among presidential relatives and favored bureaucrats. Or the consuelo de hijos y hijas de la gran jodida p*ta who are scheming to railroad ChaCha through a shamelessly self-serving constituent assembly, to allow her to remain in power beyond 2010 as prime minister, and are preparing to spend our taxpayers’ money to buy their way to that goal.

Hopefully those P100 billion will all go to the intended beneficiaries, the unemployed and the underemployed, so that they and their families can weather the expected gales in 2009. But we really have no way of knowing that unless and until administration critics – the Churches and the NGOs – organize themselves into oversight committees that will follow the money trail to its last stops. Along the way there will be many sticky fingers that this government has deservedly become infamous for.

There are literally hundreds, even thousands, of much needed infrastructure that can and should be started with the P100 billion stimulus, such as miles and miles of irrigation canals to increase agricultural output and make us self-sufficient, finally, in rice and corn; thousands of school buildings and schoolrooms medical centers and hospital beds, to improve basic services in education and health; miles and miles of farm-to-market roads.

And speaking of roads, can anyone explain to me why no government of this country, since the time of the Aetas, seems to have thought of building a coastal road along the eastern seaboard of Luzon that would have connected Mauban (Quezon) to Infanta, to Baler to Casiguran to Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile’s Port Irene in Cagayan Province?

Such a coastal road, about 800 kilometers long, would have opened up hundreds of thousands of hectares of virgin, undeveloped land to enterprises in agriculture, forestry, mining, fishing, and tourism, with due cognizance of environmental concerns, and would have given gainful employment to hundreds of thousands of people who are at present packed in the densely populated Lingayen-to-Lucena Corridor.

My favorite infrastructure proposal is an electric tram network in Metro Manila that would inter-connect the stations of the LRTs and the MRT. Such a tram network would replace thousands of polluting diesel-powered jeepneys and buses, thus reducing air pollution significantly and easing road congestion as well, both of which are largely caused by those jeepneys and buses.

Just imagine EDSA without jeepneys and buses, replaced by electric trams running neatly in single-file, without polluting the air. Almost every major and minor city in Europe has electric trams, in addition to their subways or above-ground commuter rail trunk lines. We have been unconsciously following the flawed American model of a car-based transport system.

Such a network, which would connect residential subdivisions and work places to the LRTs and MRT stations and vice versa would encourage car-owners to leave their cars at home and take public transportation instead, thus reducing air pollution and road congestion even more. And it can be built under the Build-Operate-Transfer scheme, without any capital outlay from government.

Such a network should be run, not by a single monopolistic entity, but by a consortium that should include, if they so wish, the owners and drivers of the buses and jeepneys that will be displaced, so as to minimize social and economic dislocation

In 1995, I was invited to read a paper in an international conference on Cities and the New Global Economy, held in Melbourne and hosted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the club of the 27 richest countries of the world) and the federal government of Australia.

In the off-hours, I asked for and was given a briefing on the electric tram network of Melbourne, a lovely city that is often voted as one of the most livable cities in the world. Although Melbourne then had 1.5 million vehicles – about the same as Metro Manila – there was/is virtually no traffic jams and virtually no pollution.

That is so because most Melbourne residents take the tram in their daily commutes. Melbourne is crisscrossed by 320 tram routes. Almost any point in Melbourne is accessible by a tram ride or a series of tram rides. Car-owners use their cars on weekends when they go out to the countryside.

In 2001 or 2002, I sent a written proposal to President Arroyo, through Malacanang chief-of-staff Vicky Garchitorena, for a similar tram network in Metro Manila. I never got a reply from them. *****

Reactions to tonyabaya@gmail.com. Other articles in www.tapatt.org and in acabaya.blogspot.com.

The Sweet Scent of Change

GLIMPSES
Jose Ma. Montelibano

It is political season, whether it will be elections in 2010 or Charter Change whichever way. But it is not an ordinary political season; it is an emerging environment that is pregnant with possibilities. While some wannabe presidents are busy building their electoral organizations and communication plans, many others are planning not just a change of presidents but a change of political systems. Around them are pockets of strategic groups that want instant change, and I do not mean just the more rebellious in the military. The highest prelates in Church, led by CBCP president Archbishop Lagdameo, asked for change now, not tomorrow. Of course, he later says he meant only constitutional change. Of course, I can’t bring myself to believe that he erred so badly in the exercise of the English language.

After another two weeks in the United States, I see a strengthening of the political aspirations of the older generation of Filipino-Americans. And these aspirations are invariably grounded in shame and disgust at the kind of reputation that the Philippine government has earned. Corruption and human rights violations have elevated the Philippines to a rank of official ill repute that completely demolishes any claim that Catholicism or Christianity is a humane and caring belief system. The subsequent poverty caused by both historical and present day greed is evidence that religion, and I include Islam here, is a firm ground for higher values.

Like a fresh gust of clean air, Archbishop Lagdameo articulates what seems to be a collective sentiment of bishops - that the Church has failed. The admission of guilt is surprisingly not embarrassing, but a rare expression of honesty. It also sets the stage for societal reformation, maybe even a renaissance. The Church is the natural leader of transformation, of moral regeneration, of higher ethics. By not having been so, its guilt is awesome and its credibility shot. Not all Filipinos are blind to the factionalism that besets the hierarchy of the Church, and her selective morality. While the ground troops of
priests and nuns try to keep the body and soul of Catholicism intact, the actuation of many of their shepherds in high places negate the purity of good works.

Is the good archbishop of Iloilo trying to make up for the cracked image of the Catholic hierarchy? At the rate that he is causing a stir even among the most disappointed in the Church, it is possible that Lagdameo can become a light and a voice that many will follow. It may even be that he, and only he, will be followed. It is a difficult and lonely path, this effort to rebuild a stained image, a lost credibility, an inconsistent morality. Archbishop Lagdameo will first
be disdained by his own before he can be the beacon of a renewing faith. How long he can last will be dictated by how deeply he desires to be a reflection of the Founder he follows.

But the good bishop should not fret. Beyond his backyard of the official Church is a whole people, 90 million of us, desperate for good leadership, desperate for the tradition of bayanihan, desperate for the caring and sharing that Filipinos know how to give not just each other but even those of other races and creeds, desperate for a vision that inspires, desperate for good works to make true political promises and religious homilies. Our desperation pushes us to seek and recognize anyone who resembles integrity, honesty, and a lover of the poor. Archbishop Angel Lagdameo’s light shines today, much brighter
than it has ever shone, and has the opportunity to shine even brighter.

He should recognize one fact, though. Filipinos have learned to tolerate what is wrong, even what is evil, when there is an absence of a knight in shining armor. If we content ourselves to rise in rage and rebellion and kill all those who deserve a fate more than a quick death, we would have been driven only by our terror of utter darkness. That does not take us out of darkness but impels us more firmly inside it. Only light can displace darkness, and only inspiring leadership can motivate us to build and rebuild along the parameters of what is truly moral and highly ethical.

In the United States, Fil-Ams will find the environment to contribute to meaningful change, not only in their society, but more so in ours. Whether deliberately or not, the successful Obama campaign and incoming presidency opens incalculable possibilities for change even beyond what Obama himself envisioned. The Philippines will be a beneficiary of yet unknown change. That we cannot see in our mind’s eye the exact forms and intensity of passion that will accompany that change should not faze us. We must embrace change because we cannot survive as a decent and god-fearing nation should change conti8nue to elude us. Poverty is a social anomaly, a clear manifestation that our society can hurt its own, can abandon its own. And the kind of
corruption that defines governance, according to global standards and scrutiny, reflects failure of the worst kind - social, political, religious, and economic.

All over the land, so many advocacies and movements have been established to promote or implement change. Most are focused on good governance, on moral governance, and some on responsible citizenship. They are all good, they are all correct. Yet, something is missing. The people who are the audience of all these advocacies and movements remain quiet, even submissive and accepting of poverty and corruption. It is almost as though those who wish to be change agents are substantially disconnected to the mass experience and sentiments, unable to make them astir, awake and alert to options. Despite the
hunger that stalks millions of families, poor Filipinos are not agitated in proportion. What are they waiting for? Who are they waiting for?

Whatever changes occur, they will have a sweet scent. The greatest change usually happens at the worst of moments. So, as the moment worsens, great change is now that much nearer.

“In bayanihan, we will be our brother’s keeper and forever shut the door to hunger among ourselves.”

Why the biggest crooks are pushing for Cha cha economic reform

AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
By William M. Esposo
Philstar

The ambassador of an important European country shared with me this observation about our country: “More than anywhere else, over here the obvious is not what it seems to be.”
Ambassadors should be the most knowledgeable when it comes to seeing through diplomatic facades. Behind the smiles and polite answers they receive, they are trained to spot the truth and recognize the real situation prevailing in the country where they are assigned.
The layers of deception that one has to wade through here could well apply to the so-called economic reform being peddled with Charter change (Cha cha) in the light of this alarming piece of information that was shared with me recently by a national security and intelligence local expert.
Essentially, what this national security and intelligence expert told me was this — some of the country’s biggest plunderers, very possibly in league with jueteng and drug lords, are pushing for the proposed economic reform in the planned Charter change which pertains to allowing foreigners to own land in the Philippines.
The source said that many of the legislators as well as the other persons representing various sectors who are pushing for the proposed economic reform are not even aware of the insidious agenda and the cast of police characters in this play.
At first, I thought that the idea was preposterous. That is because I failed to see the connection between plunderers, jueteng and drug lords and foreigners or foreign firms being allowed to own land here.
However, when the information source started elaborating — it did strike a live wire and started to make sense. What follows is what the national security and intelligence expert outlined.
1. The recent collapse of Lehman Brothers and the other big financial institutions panicked those with big hoards being stashed abroad. In fact, several opinion writers have mentioned (though this remains to be confirmed) that a favorite usual suspect lost over P20 billion in the Lehman Brothers collapse.
2. The financial team of a big plunderer felt that their hoard was perhaps better placed here in the Philippines through front companies organized and registered overseas. They are more familiar with the terrain here compared to the prevailing situation overseas where they do not know anymore which financial institution is still stable and won’t collapse.
3. Their plan also calls for taking advantage of the negative effects of the global financial crisis and buy blue chip Philippine companies that may be sold at a bargain price. They will follow the dictum that the best time to invest is when there is blood on the streets.
4. Furthermore, their hoard, if invested here under front companies that have been organized and registered overseas, will be welcomed and even extended the usual incentives that are offered to foreign investors.
5. Having been organized and registered overseas, these front companies will not be accessible to local graft and corruption crusaders.
6. Owning some of the best blue chip firms in the Philippines will give them respectability and economic clout which they can translate to political muscle.
Now that explanation got your Chair Wrecker really thinking. If you try to see things as these plunderers, jueteng and drug lords would likely see it from their point of need under the prevailing global financial turmoil — the plan would seem very logical and appealing.
In a previous column, I disagreed with the proposal to open land ownership to foreigners. I felt that with their wealth the Chinese and South Koreans can end up buying the bulk of choice real estate here and raise the price to a level few Filipinos can afford. Already we’ve been getting reports that front companies are buying a lot of land through Filipino dummies — tolerated by the government.
Besides, what will attract foreigners to invest here is not the privilege to own Philippine land. It is good governance, the rule of law, a predictable judiciary, peace and order, a climate of industrial peace, infrastructure that is at par with ASEAN competitors, affordable energy and political stability. None of these will be delivered by the proposed Cha cha economic reform. All these can be delivered under the present Constitution if the present Constitution is followed by a competent and honest government.
Allowing foreigners to own land here will not make them overlook that we do not have good governance, the rule of law, a predictable judiciary, peace and order, a climate of industrial peace, infrastructure that is at par with ASEAN competitors, affordable energy and political stability. Offering foreign investors the privilege to own land is like offering to donate your liver to one who needs a kidney transplant.
China and Vietnam do not allow foreign investors to own land but they get the bulk of foreign investors in Asia. There is a good lesson to learn there — something our policy makers have not yet figured out.
The greatest tragedy that can hit Filipinos now is to expect salvation with that proposed economic reform — only to end up with our economy being controlled by those who plundered and pillaged our country and those who operated jueteng and sold our children illegal drugs.
Beware the Greeks giving gifts warned Cassandra when the Trojan Horse was offered. The Trojans did not heed their princess-seer and became an extinct nation.
Filipinos should beware when the greedy offer us economic reform.
* * *
Chair Wrecker website: www.chairwrecker.com

Can the Terrorist Attacks in Mumbai Happen Here?

Can the Terrorist Attacks in Mumbai Happen Here?
By Rawlein Soberano

The United States warned the Indian government twice about a potential maritime attack against Mumbai a month before it actually happened on November 26. They listened and acted upon the warnings for a week, but these efforts were eventually reduced, Indian officials admitted. It was a bloody massacre, a 3-day trail of death and destruction in the country’s largest city and financial capital which left 180 dead and nearly 300 injured. A band of ten terrorists battled police and Indian troops.

The Mumbai Joint Police Commissioner of Crime Rakesh Maria said all 10 attackers were Pakistanis, something that Pakistani officials have denied, blaming instead “stateless actors.” The weapons used can also be traced back to Pakistan. None were carrying their real identification documents because they did not expect to return home. They used sophisticated GPS equipment, carried BlackBerrys, CDs holding high resolution images like those used for Google Earth maps and multiple cell phones with switch-able SIM cards that would be hard to track. They spoke by satellite telephone.

The terrorists attacked the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel, Oberoi Trident, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) train station, Re-fresh restaurant in its main waiting area, a Jewish Center at Nariman House, Leopold Café’, Cama Hospital (charity for women), 70-year old Metro Movie Theater, Times of India and Municipal Corp of Greater Mumbai. One gunman (Azam Amin Kasab) survived. The Indian security was a generation behind in understanding the technology the gunmen used. They were equipped with World War II-era rifles and were certainly no match to the cyber-criminals and Internet-savvy killers.

India has demanded the hand-over of wanted militant leaders suspected of plotting the attacks that caused the many deaths and injuries of civilians and tourists. The surviving gunman was trained by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a now-banned Islamic militant group, allied with al Quaeda that was also blamed for the 2001 Indian Parliament attack. Pakistani authorities say it has not received any evidence that militants from within its borders carried out the attack and has denied responsibility. This attack has raised the pitch of India-Pakistan tensions to their most dangerous levels in years. The 2001 episode prompted the two countries to send their armies to their borders, sparking fears of war between the two nuclear neighbors.

The Taj is owned by Tata Group, the largest corporate group in India, with interests in steel, automobile, information technology, communications, energy, tea and hotels. Its chairman (Ratan Tata) admitted he did not provide details about the warning and security measures that were enacted as a result. They couldn’t have stopped the gunmen who entered the building through a rear door that does not have a metal detector. They knew what they were doing. They planned everything down to the last detail, entering from the kitchen.

Pakistan warned it was going to divert troops fighting the Taliban and al Quaeda on its western border with Afghanistan to its eastern border with India as tensions over the terror attacks in Mumbai push India and Pakistan towards military confrontation. Washington must mediate as Indian officials declared their country was being put virtually on a war footing. India blames Pakistan while its media have reported detailed but unconfirmed accounts from unnamed security officials that the assault on Mumbai was planned in and launched from Pakistan, making it the largest state sponsor of terrorism. Terror is evidence of weakness.

US intelligence agencies have been tracking the phones and SIM cards recovered by Indian authorities from the Muslim terrorists leading to a cache of leads in Pakistan and several possible connections in the US. Officials said one of the cell phone SIM cards may have been purchased in the US but would not provide any more details because of the ongoing investigation. Are there sleepers in our midst? The place is crawling with H-1B visa IT workers from that part of the world who can collapse our entire infrastructure, many employed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on federal government sites. From the private sector side, the bailout kings (Citigroup and AIG) have just signed agreements with taxpayer money to outsource its jobs to Tata Group and will now handle Citigroup and AIG accounts? Why can’t they hire Americans? Where is their patriotism?

The same massacre has prompted authorities in New York City to beef up security at large hotels and Jewish centers. NYC police department has already been on high alert over concerns of a possible strike during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. The terrorist attacks in India prompted enhanced security. The intention of the terrorists is intimidation of the civilian population. If you show or exude strength, they will not bother you because they are cowards who prey on defenseless and innocent elderly, women and children. Enjoy the holidays but be alert of your surroundings when you go out to a public place or take public transportation. When you see something suspicious, report it immediately. Enjoy the holidays!

RBS/AABR (12-09-08)

Happy New Year

Happy and Prosperous New Year to all!